Fixing 100% disk usage in Windows 10 with Chrome and Skype running

Could Microsoft or the Windows 10 gurus please release an update for this?

My personal assessment?  No.  

Look at the many "community" blogs attempting to provide "support" for information on virtually any fault condition you encounter.  You will find:  (1)  That whatever fault condition you encounter has been around for years, in some cases since XP;  (2)  That a "solution" that works for one person is highly unlikely to work in your case; and (3)  That fixes that work are almost invariably un-fixed by some subsequent update. 

I've been around since we programmed computers by punching in binary code on indicator switches on the front panel of something the size of a computer with about as much computational power as your toaster oven.  These kinds of elusive and persistent problems are the result of bad fundamental software design and configuration management practices.   

This is not new, nor is it unique to Microsoft.   What is different is the scale and basic architecture of the systems, and the cyber threat environment in which they have to be operated.  A personal opinion is that an internetworked system whose state (in the archaic sense in which we used the term back in the day) cannot be predicted or controlled is fundamentally unsecure, un-securable, and ultimately unmaintainable. 

People who need to use information technology for real work, all going to have to learn how to live and deal with this situation on their own.   There are practical solutions, but they demand serious compromises in terms of convenience and connectivity at a time when design practices (everything in the cloud, constant real-time code changes to hundreds of program functions running in the background, etc.) are running in the opposite direction. 

For what it's worth.

I don't use my desktop all the time but every now I then I do.  The last 3 or four weeks, it has been a battle at reading a long list of forums and doing searches online.  All fingers point to the windows 10 upgrades.  I did perform upgrades myself and the problem began.  I then updated windows 10 once again as suggested but there are no fixes or solutions.

Could Microsoft or the Windows 10 gurus please release an update for this?  I don't want to continue my computer.  I might as well put windows 7 back on.

With the perspective, a fan of Microsoft products and disappointed with windows 10 updates.

Hi Imilesw,

Re: Your question: What was your Defender problem fix?

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This 100% Disk usage problem has been a frustration to many of us.....just look at all the posts. Like others, I tried a number of the recommended "tests" and "fixes" to no avail.

In my case, I found Windows Defender to be the problem, this was and still is my 5 minute "fix"....

Download an alternate program (I'm using the free version of "Spybot Search & Destroy"). By doing so and by Microsoft's design, your Defender will shut off. Presumably, it does this to avoid a software conflict. (I've since upgraded to the paid version of SS&D to get additional protection, but the free version works perfectly for testing purposes.)

 Note: Simply shutting off Defender with the on/off toggle switches does not work. I believe Defender continues to run in the background. You can confirm Defender is off when the on/off toggle switches "grey-out."

Malwarebytes is a good program but does not "grey-out" the switches (so it's ineffective for this purpose but may be used safely in conjunction with either Defender or SS&D.)

So, after a month of dealing with this problem, my computer immediately returned to normal disk usage and has been running perfectly for over 2 months now.

As a test, I went back to my pre-"fix" configuration (I deleted SS&D which automatically turned Defender back on and on/off toggle switches no longer "grey-out"). My disk immediately returned to 100% usage, fan constantly running fast and computer getting hot. Task Manager once again showing "Windows Antimalware Executable" as the culprit.

An hour later......I re-applied my "fix" and everything immediately became 100% happy and continues to do so at this time. I expect at some point the Defender issue will be corrected. At that point, I'll return to using it, but so far it's a No-Go

Good luck,

Todd

Another possible solution - disable all notifications.

I originally had this issue with Defender and having installed AVG. After cleaning that up with a reset, I had a whole other set of issues with the latest 1607 build of Windows updating and installing. Without a way to delay installing it anymore, it finally resolved itself of no effort of my own and installed properly finally. I know a whole lot of people had problems with this update package.

Now today after an apparent double update downloaded yesterday and automatically installed overnight, I am having the 100% disk usage problem again. It happens whenever I do ANYTHING in Windows and none of these solutions have brought any relief. I can't even uninstall the updates because the disk usage issue prevents it from having resources to complete the process. For some reason I am able to function in Chrome moderately well to be able to post this. Currently, in Task Manager the culprits are System, Windows Modules Installer Worker(as I am attempting update uninstall), Antimalware Service Executable, and occasionally Chrome. I may have to bite the bullet and try a complete fresh install like I did with the 1607 update fiasco.